Features Short Final

Short Final: Information Yankee

Editorial Staff
Verified
Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • The author, from Massachusetts, flew cross-country in the mid-1960s.
  • While flying near Orlando, Florida, he overheard a new ATIS (Automatic Terminal Information Service) broadcast.
  • The ATIS broadcast included weather information (temperature, dew point) and runway information.
  • The broadcast concluded with the unusual phrase, "excuse the expression, Yankee."
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I’m from Massachusetts (the North) and in the mid-1960s, flying cross‑country from Daytona Beach to an airport near Tampa Florida (the South), I passed by the Orlando airport and tuned the frequency for a brand‑new reporting system named ATIS.

I caught the recorded transmission about halfway and heard the following:

“Temperature 28. Dew point 10. Landing Runway 36. When contacting Orlando tower report you have received information, excuse the expression, Yankee.”

Marc Nathanson

Littleton, Massachusetts

Editorial Staff

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